Christian Bergman brings best in no-decision

Former Golden Knight has continued to solidify his role as Modesto Nuts ace this season.

July 21, 2012|By Andrew Shortall, andrew.shortall@latimes.com

Christian Bergman, a St. Francis High graduate, has continued… (Courtesy of Bill…)

The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level.

Christian Bergman (St. Francis High, 2006) starting pitcher, Modesto Nuts: Bergman's consecutive win streak came to an end at four starts Monday, but Bergman was still dominant in the six-inning performance.

The former All-Area Baseball Player of the Year gave up just four hits, two walks, an earned run and struck out seven in a 2-1 loss to the Lancaster Jethawks.

The Jethawks also snapped Bergman's scoreless innings streak without giving up an earned run at 19 1/3 when Grant Hogue singled in Ben Heath in the bottom of the fifth for a 1-0 Lancaster lead. Bergman, who was relieved in the bottom of the seventh, was saved from the loss when Modesto's Joey Wong hit a leadoff homer in the seventh to tie the game at 1.

Bergman's record sat at 12-5, which still keeps him atop the California League leader board in wins, with a scheduled start Saturday night against the Lake Elsinore Storm for the Nuts, the class-A advanced affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The former Golden Knight also leads the league in innings pitched (117.1) and his 2.84 earned-run average is the second best in the league.

Advertisement

Bergman also has 91 strikeouts to 26 walks and a 1.14 WHIP to his name this season for the Nuts, who are in first place in the league's North Division with a 17-12 record.

Fernando Valenzuela, Jr. (St. Francis High, 2000) designated hitter/first baseman, Leones de Yucatan: The former Golden Knight and Glendale Community College standout almost single handedly lifted the Leones de Yucatan to a victory in the second part of a doubleheader with the Guerreros de Oaxaca Wednesday when he went two for four with a home run, double and five runs batted in a 10-8 loss for Leones de Yucatan.

Leones took a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, as Valenzuela lined a two-RBI double to center field for a 3-0 lead.

Valenzuela extended the Leones' lead to 7-3 when he bashed a three-run homer to right field. It was his second three-run dinger of the day with the first coming in the opening inning of a 7-4 win over Guerreros de Oaxaca for Leones de Yucatan in Wednesday's first game.

Leones de Yucatan couldn't hold on to the lead in the final game. Guerreros de Oaxaca knotted the score at 8 in the seventh before grabbing the walk-off win on a two-run Erick Rodriguez homer in the bottom of the ninth.